Pokemon Mirror Yellow Arc
by Lanca S-K-Y
Summary: Sequel to Pokemon Mirror R/G/B: "Some people want to end all life; others just want peace or protection. Me? I'm a realist. I just want to watch the world burn."
1. Prologue

**Prologue of the yellow arc guys. This will probably be a much shorter story then the first arc as it will deviate a **_**lot**_** more from the original story.**

**Also ignore everything I said about this arc previously… basically plot changes. This story will also be a bit more of an ensemble cast sort of thing instead of being almost completely one character's point of view like the first story.**

Prologue

/?/

An hour ago he had been in his room alone with the guards. He had been compliant for the last year or so, so they had become lax.

It wasn't as if they needed to be prepared after all he was just a ten year old boy….. Well they really should have been.

At dinner he stabbed the knife into one Guard's hand and pocketed it

When the second called out he kicked him in the balls

He knocked the two out and moved as fast as possible

Using the knife he opened the vent and entered it.

From there he moved around the Research Centre searching for his parents.

He watched the Rocket's look for him… The scientists as well.

He knew that some of the scientists worked with team Rocket, the new faces but the old ones should not be so familiar with the ones that had taken over his home!

The boy moved through the vents noticing how dirty they were and how tight the fit was. He was lucky he hadn't waited any longer and that he was so small for his age. He finally came to the lab of Professor Sulmac. As he exited the vent carefully he had to blink.

The vents had been dull and dark in comparison to the brightly lit laboratory. He looked in a few test tubes as he coughed to make himself known. The man spun blue eyes displaying his shock.

"Chrome….?" he called out surprised, Chrome the boy grinned

"Hey Professor!" the boy moved around the lab "you wouldn't happen to know where my parents are?" the Professor pulled at his greying red beard unsure what to say, he shuffled closer to his desk. Chrome glanced at him confused not understanding what the man was doing. He pulled something from under the desk, a pencil.

Chrome had a bad feeling, there were three other pencils on the desk. He moved away from the Professor slightly.

_Sulmac has known me since I was a toddler! He probably is trying to get a message to me without anyone noticing… or something_

"Chrome your parents are dead" the boy stared at him

"What? How…?"

"In the first attack on the Research centre your father refused to cooperate so they put a bullet in his brain" Chrome stood there unmoving "your mother took her own life a month later"

"Why am I still here then?"

"You are a child. We couldn't risk you getting out and telling anyone but at the same time there was no point in killing you ether"

Chrome didn't miss it

"_We_?" he hissed out the word "you said _we_" it became a growl. Sulmac's eyes became hard and he moved the grab Chrome who dodged

"Yes we! I'm sorry Chrome I never foresaw this… But I help-"he didn't finish his sentence. Sulmac dove for the boy again almost grabbing him. In fear Chrome grabbed the nearest object, a beaker and threw it.

The glass shattered as it collided with Sulmac's face and the acid ate away at it. The man screamed and flailed as he fell to the ground. Chrome scrambled away from the body and out the door as fast as possible.

Guards were already moving on his location. Sulmac must have had alerted them before he had attempted to grab Chrome with how many and how close they were.

Finally coming to an open door Chrome hid within the room. He collapsed on the ground hugging his legs.

Sulmac would die from that, no way he would survive after the damage the acid did to his face.

Chrome had killed someone… But Sulmac had his hand in his parent's death…

_They all did_ Chrome realised. _There was no way after a year they would have kept everyone around. Adults with no use…_

He sat alone with his thoughts for a long time each one darker then the last. The fates of those who stood against team Rocket and the amount of the staff that would have simply betrayed the others. To scared to stand against the enemy or already working with them.

Chrome was probably alone in this place… and dead now to. He was no longer an innocent child; he was a threat that much was obvious.

Looking around the room suddenly he took notice of where he was, a filing room. Much of the research notes had been kept on a paper file as well as electronically due to how the isolation of being this far out in the Viridian forest could and had lead to some computer issues, the generators just couldn't handle the strain sometimes.

Chrome chose to stand and begin to look through the files. He started at just before the attack by Team Rocket and found everything to be business as usual.

After though…

After Team Rocket had come the research into new ways to heal Pokémon, their genetics, all of it was…

Chrome stared at the photographs he had discovered of some sort of Rattata that had been forced to stop half way through evolving. One of the notes even mentioned how the creature seemed to be in pain… As if it wasn't obvious!

A few more photos of experiments later and he was about to throw up.

This was it… This was what his parent's research was being used for? To cause immeasurable amounts of pain to a bunch of creatures that shared this world with them.

There was one file though that pushed him over the edge. Experiment C.O.P.H _Coph_, combination of Pokémon and human.

Maybe that was why he was kept around, a test subject. They had been using cells only so far but they had been attempting to create a hybrid of Pokémon and human dna.

Chrome closed the draw robotically.

They were creating a hybrid of Pokémon and human dna…

They were creating a monster…

He had taken note of which Professors and Doctors kept appearing and the new ones…. He would start there…

**And remember folks don't flame unless you have an extinguisher!**


	2. Chapter 1

**I just love looking at the list of stories and seeing all these happy trainer pictures next to the other stories… and then there's the image of a bloody hand.**

**And thanks Helen for that last review on RGB we reached 20 reviews on it guys! You don't realize how good it feels after a long day of my least favourite subject (typography) and being told I don't get it I have a little review that's nice or an alert/favourite. Just thought I'd tell you guys how much I appreciate you.**

Chapter 1

/R.B/

River Blue had long ago learned to sit still for whole nights it was an important skill when you spend as much time as he did spying and… _hunting_.

So of all people he should not be the one fidgeting in his seat, he should be able to ignore how cold the air conditioned room felt on his bare arms.

He should be able to concentrate and not let his mind wounder enough to be thankful for his jeans or the black material against his chest that kept the heat in.

"Have you got something to say Blue?" He met Jessie's eyes the red head looked impatient. Looking around he realised his actions had not gone unnoticed. Leaf looked especially worried in his champion get up of a black shirt and some sort of dessert cloak.

Blue sighed his blue eyes returning back to Jessie.

"You were talking about the next earth gym leader right? I mean what else could it poss-a-fucking be?" the woman's eyes narrowed.

"Blue" Both of their eyes turned back to Erik who sat on Leaf's right on the table. The tone was an obvious warning to the boy but he didn't care. The rest of the table, meaning Leaf, the other gym leaders and Professor Oak fidgeted awkwardly in the cold atmosphere. He had a clear view of the table from where he sat especially the empty chair that was a reminder of why he was so angry.

"No Erik if he has something to say then he should say it! After all… he is here to give his opinion correct?" Jessie's voice stayed level but there was a bitter undercurrent to it. The woman had been undercover in Team Rocket. Someone who had worked under Erik for years and yet Blue, who had only been in the field for three years now was sitting in on meetings because of who he was friends with. Perhaps it was how in three years he had done more than she had ever had…

Blue was all too happy to give his opinion and further fuel the flames but when he opened his mouth Leaf was the first to speak.

"Fire" The word was met with silence. "She defeated Giovanni so the place is hers"

Blue looked over at the gym leaders. Most of them just looked upset at the mention of the girl; it was unsurprising since each of them had grown attached for their own reasons to his crazy friend.

Erik just looked uncomfortable probably for a lot of reasons._ After all he's terrified of putting her in the lime light for too long in case someone puts together that Fire Red is the daughter of Scarlett Red, everyone's least favourite serial killer and cult leader._

"We still can't find her though…" Misty finally said turning her head to the side and taking a deep breath.

"And we should talk about it later" Erik interrupted her stone faced, Blue stared at him.

"No… I think we should talk about it now!" he growled and everyone looked at him shocked his hands that sat on the wood table balled into a fists. "She's gone Erik! Fucking gone! Are you seriously going to act like nothing has fucking happened? Let's move on with our lives? It's been three god damned months! We have literally no information on where she is! Fire could be dead and…"

"Enough Blue!" silence.

Erik never yelled… He never looked like he was about to murder someone, like he did right now. The older boy took a deep breath, eyes closed before speaking again.

"This meeting is over" Everyone was practically climbing over each other to get out of the room. "Blue" the boy didn't need to hear anything else to know to stay behind.

When he was alone with Erik in the board room, he became aware of how big the room really was and neutral with all the beige.

"Blue… that was unneeded" Erik had this way of making you feel like you were being scolded by a parent; it probably had something to do with his snobbish upbringing as a little lordling.

"Really?" Blue folded his arms "Three months Erik." Again Erik's calm cracked.

"I know alright!" He seemed to realize how loud his voiced was because he stopped speaking "I know" he added in a much quieter tone. "But you were right we have nothing Blue. So tell me what the hell do you expect me to do?"

"Act as if you actually give a damn about her!" Suddenly the lord had him by the neck of his shirt holding him up against the wall.

"Act as if I… Blue you have no fucking clue how…" The two of them glared at each other, they were at a tipping point… this could become a fight at any moment. Neither of them spoke, they barely breathed. Slowly Erik let Blue go and moved away to collect himself.

"If you cared half as much as me…" Erik's fist connected with Blue's face.

"Oooh trust me Blue I care _just_ as much as you" Erik's calm restored he allowed Blue to check that his nose wasn't broken. "But… I am not as free to move as you are" a smirk appeared on Blue's face ignoring the previous confrontation. He wanted this chance more.

"I'll be going then?" Erik nodded calming himself he stepped away from the younger boy.

"You need the file or are you still up to date on it" Blue moved to the door.

"I've got the file yes" he paused "watch Leaf for me… make sure he's in bed by eleven" and with that Blue was out the door.

/A/

The boy removed his cap for a moment sweeping the sweat away from his brow with his arm. His black hair got in the way, proving that as he expected a cut was in order.

He had only visited Pallet Town a few times having grown up in Viridian, the small town had been in walking distance.

However this really wasn't a casual visit. Beside him the Kadabra was in constant movement and in front of him was a Pikachu running as fast as he could towards the laboratory of Professor Samantha Oak.

The large building was intimidating he would admit that, he didn't actually want to go in there but the Pikachu had already.

He hadn't realized how impatient the little creature was but then he really couldn't blame him. Opening the door he followed the animal in. As he walked through the laboratory he attempted to not step on the clutter.

Just out of his hearing he could hear muttering and following the sound he saw the Pikachu enter a door just down the hall.

He followed at a run… and collided with the door.

"What was that?" Someone asked as the door opened again and the boy blinking looked into the room. The speaker had been the red head on the video phone, Misty the Cerulean Gym leader. The Pikachu was leaping around the room attempting to communicate with anyone in the room. Finally the Kadabra's eyes started to glow and suddenly the Pikachu stopped.

"Oi Magic!" the boy called out and the psychic type stopped. The two Pokémon glared at each other for a second.

"Who are you?" the boy turned back to the other occupant of the room. An older woman stood in a lab coat and looked completely unimpressed by him barging into her laboratory.

"We've met previously" he told her "I'm Ace" he held out his hand to shake but she still didn't seem to remember him, she was suspicious he realized. "I'm a friend of Fire's…." That got both the Professor and the Gym leader's attention.

"Is that why you have Strike?" Ace wasn't sure how to answer the Professor's question so instead he removed the other item he had from his bag. Fire's Dex.

"No… Thing is I have no idea what happened. I find Strike, Magic and this thing out in the Viridian forest. They weren't in good shape, so I did what I could" Ace had to admit for the bloody mess… "Strike pretty much ran here the second he could" both the Gym leader and the Professor shared a look.

"We should mention this to Blue" Misty said after a moment "maybe keep the Pokémon here for now…"

"No way!" Ace yelled and it seemed by how close he stood the Kadabra agreed with him. "Fire is my friend and I found them!"

"This doesn't have anything to do with you" Oak explained

"Yeah well last time I left Fire alone it was outside of Viridian city Gym and the next time I saw her she was in a hospital bed hooked up to a bunch of machines! Even if you take everything from me I'll still go looking for her" this time Strike moved to the boy's side again the Professor and the Gym leader exchanged a look.

Oak took the Dex from Ace and put it into a machine. After a minute a light went on. She then unattached it and handed it back to Ace.

"I have all the information on it on my computer now. I'll hand that over to Blue. You can do your own investigation if you so choose Ace but be careful"

Ace nodded leaving the building.

**Hey look I did do something with Ace he's an ascended extra! No I don't spend a large amount of time on TV tropes what gave you that idea.**

**Again as a reminder this story isn't centred around one character but instead follows a few different people.**

**And remember folks don't flame unless you have an extinguisher!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnd chapter 2! Trying to keep a descent update schedule while I can.**

**I'm just going to make a guess that trees and flowers in this universe are called the same thing. Though I might change ones like catspaw to Meowthpaw if it comes up or something.**

**Also awkward moment Bill doesn't have a last name… So I just went on Bulbapedia and chose to use L****è****o since is the French dub's name for him and using the Japanese name doesn't exactly fit since Kanto seems to have very westernised names.**

Chapter 2

/A/

The splashing was the first thing to get his attention. Ace was walking through Viridian Forest when he heard splashing from the river. That was very odd; people generally didn't swim in the river. There was too much rubbish and the chance of stepping on a syringe.

The boy's first thought was that the person in the river was some stupid little kid. But Strike jumped into action pretty fast running towards the sound only turning back expectantly to Ace. He followed along with Magic.

It wasn't far down the river, around the tight bend and in between the two dead weeping willows. Ace skidded to a halt seeing a Seadra within some sort of whirlpool or something. It was normal, they often caught pray like that but it was the pray that worried him.

"Ey a lil' elp!" Ace knew that voice.

"Magic quick get him out!" He called out the gold Pokémon raised his hands and pulled the brunet out of the water. As he dropped the older boy on the ground at Ace's feet he spluttered coughing up large amounts of the disgusting river water.

The Seadra wasn't happy at the loss of it's pray and sped over to them preparing another water attack. Both Strike and Magic prepared themselves but it was Ace that reacted. Pulling a rope from his bag he attached something to the hook at the end and threw it at the Pokémon.

"There!" he called out as the meat hit the Pokémon and the hook released it. The Seadra looked up at them, had a good look at the sparks flying from Strike's cheeks before deciding the best option would be to take the food offered and leave.

After the Seadra was good and gone Ace turned his attention to the figure on the ground.

"Bill you alright?" He asked helping the man up. Bill blinked eyes wide with shock.

"Ace? Didn't th-think I'd be se-seeing yall er-ere" Bill was shivering badly, Ace took a quick glance up at the tree tops and seeing as it was late afternoon he decided to call the rest of the day a loss and make camp.

"Bill I'm from Viridian" Ace replied making a fire and once it was going he held out his hand to Bill.

"Errr?" Ace sighed

"Give me your jacket or something." Ace explained. Bill handed it to him and Ace placed it next to the flames to dry. "So why are you here?" Strike came up to the fire then along with Magic… though from opposite sides.

"Ey Ace… that an't…" Bill was pointing at Strike so the boy nodded.

"Yeah it's Strike" The Pikachu walked over to Bill to check on him.

"So I'm guessing she still an't been found?" Ace sat down crossing his legs

"No… we're all looking for her now… you know anything?" Bill shrugged scratching Strike behind the ear.

"Told everything I knew ta Erik… Far often came ta see me when she was a'travaling"

"Why?" Ace asked leaning in a bit any detail could prove useful at this point.

"Far and Oak had fight after the League she just seemed ta prefer comin to me for anything research wise. She'd been asking about Viridian... specifically the Research Centre"

"The… Research Centre? That place has been closed down for like six years" Ace shook his head "what the hell would Fire want with those labs? The only person I know who's been there in that time is Chrome"

"Chrome?" Bill sat up surprised "you never mentioned any one called Chrome before" Ace shrugged

"Not much to mention he's a guy who's around my age and lives" he paused for a moment looking about "or lived in Viridian Forest, haven't seen him much lately. Normal guy, smart though, he used to use the place to help him brew potions"

"Think he could 'ave something ta do with Far's disappearance?" Bill seemed concerned.

"We could head up that way and talk to him. Hell if he has any information at all…"

"I am sorry but Chrome is a little _too_ busy to help you right now" The occupants of the make shift campsite spun seeing the figure standing within the shadows.

"Who are you?" Ace asked preparing to take a pokeball out of his belt.

"A well informed individual I guess you could say…" the shape walked towards them revealing itself to be a young woman within her twenties. She moved her glasses slightly "I know what happened to your dear little friend" Ace wearily watched her "however I see no reason to explain to you what happened"

"Now why's that?" Ace could tell by Bill's voice he was aware of how dangerous the situation was.

"Because you see Mr Lèo" it took a second for Ace to remember Bill's last name was that "you will be coming with me and you" the woman turned her gaze back to Ace "can come to if you're a good little boy. If not well…" An evil grin spread over her face.

Ace moved in front of Bill knowing the researcher had preference to not carrying a companion with him. Strike and Magic moved into their fighting stances when the wind spun around them throwing them away from Bill. Ace returned the two before he fell making sure they were safe even though he landed on his shoulder badly.

Standing Ace looked around to see the woman threatening Bill with a Dewgong.

"Titan!" He yelled releasing the large rock Pokémon the rolled right into the Pokémon. The white ice type was thrown completely off balance and sent spiralling into the water. "What do you think of that!" Ace called out triumphantly running to Bill's side.

"Thanks" Bill said obviously frazzled

"See this is why you should have a Pokémon on you at all times"

The conversation was cut short by the water attack that flew towards the Graveler an attack he could have never fought against. Ace returned the Pokémon meeting the woman's eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked finally

"I am Lorelei of the elite four little boy and you are doomed" from nowhere ice attacks came in hard and fast. Ace grabbed Bill and did the only thing he could think of.

He jumped into the river.

The water got into his mouth making him cough and left a terrible taste. He couldn't see anything but murky brown and as he pulled up for air his eyes stung just a little.

"Hold on!" He called to Bill who made some affirmative sound as the current pushed them down the river. With Titan out of commission it had been his only option even though it was likely Lorelei had a lot of Pokémon that could simply catch up to him.

And they did.

Around the fourth bend or so he was forced to let go of Bill because a Cloister slammed into him. He hit a tree log and coughed up more river water as he looked around. His blurred vision didn't help matters and as he blinked the muck out of his eyes he could see Bill encased up to his shoulders in ice on the river bed.

"Are you the one they thought could save Little miss Red?" Lorelei laughed at him "You're nothing but a little boy"

"The name's Ace witch" Ace coughed out "And I will save her even if that means I have to go through you and three other asshats" the woman continued to laugh.

"Oh that's utterly amazing… You think you can win? Oh I'd let you live sweet heart, long enough for you to learn how stupid you sound. But orders are orders and Lance is big on the following orders so…" The Cloister flew towards him hitting hard again before sending out an aurora beam.

/B.L/

Bill looked out over the water craning his neck even though it hurt trying to find Ace.

All he saw was red rising up against the murky water.

"You bitch" he hissed at Lorelei the woman laughed again

"Oh don't worry Mr Lèo you have plenty of time to call me names while you help us." With that she pulled out a syringe and tested it before injecting the substance into his neck.

Everything went black.

/A/

Ace opened his eyes blinking and looking about him. Magic lay on the ground nearby panting. Zuzu was flying about keeping an eye out for attackers and Strike was ready to help at any moment.

He was real lucky he worked out how to break the seals on pokeballs so his team could come out at any time, it obviously just saved his life.

Moving he let out a hiss. A large amount of his body hurt like a bitch and he was bleeding out of a large gash on his side. All things considered though he was probably lucky to be alive after an attack like that.

_What the hell do I do now?_ Ace thought to himself. He had to send a message to Oak somehow about what happened to Bill obviously. He also needed medical attention quite urgently.

Ace removed a flask from his bag and took a swing rather painfully. The medicine was for Pokémon but worked pretty well on humans too, with some side effects…

He wouldn't be capable of travelling for an hour or so. So instead he decided to spend that time very carefully and thoroughly cleaning his wound and bandaging it. He was also aware that he smelt like the river which wasn't good.

After the hour was up he still wasn't really in shape to walk but didn't have too much of a choice… or at least he had thought that, a look at the water revealed the Seadra he had seen earlier that day.

"Hello" he said. The Pokémon made a short noise, understanding Ace threw some food to it. The Pokémon ate it happily. The boy having an idea returned his Pokémon and moved to the wild one… or at least half tamed one. He had spent his childhood in the forest most of the Pokémon there knew him.

"So how about a deal I'll give you as much food as I can in return you mind taking me up river?" after a moment the Pokémon seemed to understand, most of them had the intelligence of a small child. It agreed and after checking the bandages on his side again, and somewhat water proofing them Ace got on the large blue river monster and they headed down river.

**You know funny thing the only reason the Yellow arc isn't my favourite of all the adventure arcs is the protagonist and how they affect the world around them.**

**I mean no offence to Yellow fans but it seems like Yellow solves everything with her magical powers (or just through sheer fighting is bad no one should get hurt power) and then falls asleep when it's convenient. I even found that the elite four seemed a bit underwhelming (I used to think they were bad ass and hard as a kid… I still do now when doing a nuzlocke run) so I wanted the first real show of an Elite Four member to show just how powerful they are! Meaning Ace had to get thoroughly thrashed!**

**And remember folks don't flame unless you have an extinguisher!**


	4. Chapter 3

**WARNING SERIOUS WARNING!**

**The second part of this chapter after the /?/ (which will be in bold to be even more noticeable) has disturbing content involving torture. I have limited the disturbing content as best as I can however it is important to the plot. It is predominantly implied however read at your digression if you do feel it is too much for you there will be a summary in note in bold bellow the chapter. I find it unlikely that people reading this story will be unable to handle it but covering the bases here.**

Chapter 3

/E/

Erik looked out at the crowd. _Just a little bit more._ He told himself.

"Yes Team Rocket did do many things for Kanto, including producing jobs we may not have otherwise had" _and a lot of very dangerous weapons to scare Unova out of further attacks and Hoenn into getting off their neutral ass and stopping that pathetic war._

"Lord Erik are you suggesting that Kanto should bloody it's hands with the monstrous creations of Team Rocket?" Erik held back the retort. He was standing at a podium made of dark wood in front of a sea of reporters. Behind him stood a white curtain containing the symbol of each gym, it showed the united front they supposably were (well they were if you included the four that hadn't been open for over two years).

He remembered how two years ago the same reporters would have been praising Team Rocket for every discovery and experiment… But the Giovanni had always been ten times better at handling a crowd (especially reporters) then Erik had ever been.

"We can't ignore what Team Rocket has done and in a lot of cases they have perverted some truly amazing research. For example before Team Rocket had taken over the Viridian Research Centre" _secretly, bloodily and completely without anyone's knowledge before they legally gained it though a very quiet and not at all suspicious take over that you all didn't care about_. "The centre had been doing controversial but important medical research into how specific Pokémon cells could be used to help humans and vice versa. There are examples of such research into many other fields like environmental and yes defence that we feel could used. If you need another example, Team Rocket had also discovered that one specific strand of Magikarp is able to utilize the Dragon rage attack"

"And who is this 'We'?" Erik knew where this was going, the same place it had in every other press conference they had had since the removal of the previous powers that be. He took a deep breath.

"By 'We' I mean the Champion, gym leaders and other officials" the reporter smiled obviously feeling like she had trapped him, again like always.

"Yes but Kanto's champion is only fourteen years old…"

_I am very much aware of that. You all seem to become obsessed with Leaf's age every time he gets a year older._

"Fourteen is very young and with most of his closest advisers being young people such as yourself…"

Another fact they all liked was how Misty, Brock and himself where all teenagers (they liked to forget that Brock was nineteen). It didn't help that all the gym leaders older then that had all been in some way connected to Team Rocket and had disappeared.

"Which is exactly why we, meaning the gym leaders and the Champion talk with other officials such as the mayors of each town when making decisions" Erik countered growing more and more impatient of the people in front of him.

"Like your father?" Erik just nodded to that question. His father was Mayor of Caledon, rich old family with the head being the Mayor and the heir being head of the gym leaders... it meant they had a lot of attention and eyes on them.

It really wasn't his fault that the Champion was fourteen during a time when every Politian proved to be corrupt and the Champion was after parliament the default leader of Kanto.

Erik noticed then that his secretary Jeff was making the hand signal that told him time was up. Erik held back the grin and took a moment to collect him.

"I am sorry to you all but we are out of time, if you have further questions you may speak to our press secretary" as usual the press called out to him as he walked away. Jeff ran off to handle something as Erik walked back to his office.

"Lord Erik!" shrill voice and the sound of high heels, he was not going to enjoy this. "Genevieve Grace, Cinnabar's Say'press"

_Oh joy a tabloid reporter…_

"Yes?" He turned to look at her plastering a smile on his face.

"I was wondering if you could comment on our Champion's relationship status…"

_Oh for…_

"I really don't care who Leaf dates" _do you think I am his baby sitter or something?_ The woman sighed getting closer.

"Alright how about the rumours of Kanto's hero Fire disappearing to join Team Rocket?" Erik froze and his face darkened. The woman smirked. "You two were close correct…" the woman stopped seeing the Tangela watching her through narrowed eyes.

"A girl disappears and you try and pull her name through the mud? I suggest you leave" Erik didn't even wait to see if she did. When he made it to his office Erik collapsed in the large black chair.

He shouldn't have reacted like that, he really shouldn't have had Cypress all be it subtlety threaten a tabloid journalist. However she really chose a bad time. He had a Government going down the drain and a fourteen year old champion who tried… but Leaf had no idea how to handle public relations or how to make such big decisions.

That was something he had grown to rely on _her _for. He had spent far too many nights over the last two years alone after everyone else had turned in for the night with her attempting to find a solution to keep Kanto a float, _even if it was a little morally gray._

Hell he had even become able to tell how she felt depending on how far down her face that damned hat of hers sat. How often had he wanted to rip it off her face and get a good look at her eyes?

If it wasn't for everything she had helped put together and the fact she'd strangle him for jeopardizing it Erik would have gone looking for her himself. But instead he had sent Blue.

Blue had gone off the radar in record time. Usually it took him a few weeks to get board of calling in and disappearing for extended periods.

Usually she would keep track of him when Erik couldn't.

He rubbed his eyes. He really couldn't keep being distracted like this. Erik turned on the computer and after it had booted up he put a call through.

Misty appeared up on screen only half surprised to see him.

"God Erik you look terrible" where the first words out of her mouth, Misty wasn't looking to good ether, even on the screen he could see the dark circles under her eyes.

"Any word?" he replied with and she shook her head.

"Sorry… No sign of Blue or Ace"

"Did you hear the roumour about Fire working with Team Rocket?" from the look on her face he could tell she had.

"…Erik we both know that's an impossibility. You may never have seen it but I fought with her at Mount Moon. There is nothing that would make Fire work with them" she paused taking a deep breath because there was something she needed to tell me "I was about to call you though… Bill's been missing for a few days" Erik groaned

"I'll get Jessie on it" he told the girl "is that it?"

"Other than the friendly advice of not worrying about such roumers and get some sleep?"

"Tell you what when you do I will too" she gave a slight laugh that was more like a giggle, the sleep deprivation was obviously getting to her.

"Do as I say not as I do?"

**/?/**

Drip

Drip

Drip

Drip

Drip

The sound went on and on…

What felt like a life time ago she had used it to somewhat calculate time as there was a drip every five seconds but she had for the most part given up on that when she had been allowed to sleep again.

There was the soft hum of the mechanisms around her which when the pump wasn't going was the only other sound in the room.

She felt the pull that meant the somewhat makeshift IV drip was being replaced… when it was jammed back into her the pain was the most minimal she ever got…. Almost unnoticeable in relation to the rest of it.

Drip

Drip

Drip

Drip

She could count them if she wanted to know when the switch would happen… when the pump would start. She could also watch if she wanted but a while ago she had given up on her eyes, it seemed smarter to not know what was coming. She never had expectations, with those it was a like pulling off the most painful bandaid she ever had.

Drip

Drip

Drip

….

Silence…. Nothing… She was confused where had the drip gone? The soft hum of the machines slowly dissipated into nothing as they switched off one by one. The light that was always shinned on her face flickered and finally stopped.

Had he given up on her? Decided she was a lost cause? She remembered his words to her as he left her in the room alone, to not hear anything but the drip and machines around her for an indefinite amount of time.

"_Some people want to end all life; others just want peace or protection. Me? I'm a realist. I just want to watch the world burn. However I don't have the patience so I'll play till then"_

In the silence she heard a new sound, the sound of the metal door opening. She knew it because the hope of it opening had been the thing to keep her sane through this hell.

She didn't open her eyes though.

She couldn't bare the possibility it was him returning with some sort of new way of showing her how _they_ had felt.

Most of the time she didn't… couldn't even remember who _they _were, even though he had in very specific detail told her all about each and every one of _them_.

"Sir…" She didn't know the voice but in the silence she could tell it was by the door way.

"Let me through!" She knew that one though… No idea who but familiar all the same.

It was male but not him… maybe it was one of _them_ then? Did she know _them_?

"God damn it!" the familiar voice said "God damn that little bastard… those fucking Gym leaders! They were meant to… Damn it stop standing around you idiots help her!" she heard others scrabble around and over time two came either side of her and moved gloved hands around the meat hooks that dug into her shoulders.

One of them made a disgusted sound as they moved their hand around the barbed wire that also helped to suspend her above the ground.

"It would be best if we just cut around her sir… It has… It has been too long and the skin has healed around the hooks and wire"

"Just get her down!" He yelled "and give her something for the pain!" she heard the other figures shuffle around again.

She had barely reacted at all while the unidentified figures did this, it was when a third pair of hands moved to hold her as they removed the neck brace… she flinched and gasped. She didn't speak though even with the neck brace gone she was a little wary of being punished for the volume of her voice… or speaking at all.

The hands were really big and through the large rips in her shirt and her tender skin beneath she could feel the calluses on them. They belonged to the familiar voice because she heard him swear colourfully as someone with much smaller hands placed them on her neck.

"It's going to be okay sweetheart" it was a woman but she thought of how Blue called her sweetheart as a joke. The woman injected something into her neck. As she became more and more numb and drowsy she felt something being tugged onto her head, a baseball cap. Her hand went instinctively to pull it down but someone else did for her. "Try not to move" the woman said and she would obey… she was so tired.

Finally she opened her eyes to see only blurs of people in black and a bulky man with it looked like brown hair… possibly she could only make out that there was brown where the top of his hair should be.

"Sleep kid" another familiar male voice, more rough and understanding "you're going to need it"

She fell asleep to more cursing from both male voices as the others cut away at the barbed wire.

**Summary of second part of the chapter:**

**A girl is in a room suspended, she has obviously been there a long time. There is no sound in the room but dripping and the hum of the machines. She remembers that the male who left her there (who she refers to as him) told her "Some people want to end all life; others just want piece or protection. Me? I'm a realist. I just want to watch the world burn. However I don't have the patience so I'll play till then" also making reference to a **_**they**_** who had been in pain (though she doesn't remember who **_**they**_** are).**

**A group of people shut of the machines to rescue her and she knows two of the men involved. They inject her with something to numb her to the pain and make her sleep. Someone places a base ball cap on her head and when she opens her eyes she sees blurs of people in black and a bulky man with what looked like brown hair.**

**The only other thing that needs to be taken note of is that part of it was a neck brace that punished her depending on how loud or if she did speak.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hello? You guys still with me? I didn't scare you away did I?**

**Well… Welcome to Chapter 4! I'd say it's lighter then chapter 3… maybe…**

Chapter 4

/S/

He liked the forest very much it had been the place he had been born.

It didn't matter that there was always that odd smell that left a sour taste in the back of your mouth or that it sometimes didn't smell right. It had been his home… He could tell she wasn't enjoying the forest though.

Or at least the heat from how she had pulled the bill of her hat down even though it was just him and her, and he knew she trusted him.

Something was wrong though he could sense it running a head slightly he sniffed the air.

"Strike!" He spun hearing her scream. There she was, there they all were. His pack! He could smell the metallic and disgusting smell.

The others were coated in red fading away but she was still there close to him. The smell of red he realize was coming from him when he tried to walk he was unable to because his back leg… he could see white beneath the red.

He watched her being dragged away reaching out to him, the others being reduced to bloody messes by different attacks. It was all fragmented like events happening out of order…

Disappearing every second like they were being locked away somewhere.

/A/

Ace woke the Pikachu up as gently as he could; Magic beside him ignored the creature for the most part.

"Hey buddy?" the creature awoke with a start and static flew from his cheeks. "Ouch!" Some of it hit Ace and he dropped the Pokémon. Strike ran off into the distant plains towards Cerulean.

"Strike!" He yelled after the Pokémon which stopped for a second looking back at Ace before continuing his run. "Damn it!" Ace kicked a small rock in front of him on a normal day he could catch up to the Pokémon but right now with the wound in his side… It was looking okay but he didn't want to risk it opening again.

He released his Zubat into the air.

"Zuzu catch up with Strike and at least keep an eye on him or something!" the Pokémon took off without another order and Ace moved along as best he could. "Damn…" He hissed.

It was the better part of an hour before he saw the Pikachu again. Coughing from what he realized might be more then bruises on his ribs he found himself surrounded by people… and very powerful Pokémon.

He had known that the Seadra had dropped him off near Cerulean City, probably quite happy since the water was much cleaner there. Thing was he wasn't expecting such a welcome and injured how he was he wasn't sure he could handle one.

The two people standing in front of him were Misty, which wasn't a shock she was a good friend of Fire's and the gym leader of the city. The other did though, Erik was the gym leader of a much further out town at least a few days of travelling (by train) to get there and yet there he was.

Also Strike looked incredibly happy to see him which surprised him further because after the first time he had brought the gym leader up to Fire he had chosen to never do it again, the girl seemed to despise him. But then that had been after the Pokémon League and a lot of things had bothered Fire back then.

"Ace… It has been awhile" Ace didn't speak meeting the male gym leader's eyes "you are the one who's looking for Fire?" again he nodded seemed Erik was more asking for clarification when he already knew the answer.

"I didn't realize over the feed… you're just a little kid!" Misty had her hand over her mouth in a gasp of surprise.

"What are you fifteen? We're about the same age!" Ace disliked people thinking he was a little kid due to his short stature. "Anyway what would that matter Fire, Leaf and Blue were all twelve when you lot had them fighting Team Rocket" that struck a nerve with both gym leaders.

"I never wanted…" Misty started but was stopped by one look from Erik.

"I doubt you have half the training they did" he looked Ace up and down, sizing him up obviously. "And those look bad…"

_Oh _Ace realized _he was looking over my injuries…_

Strike took that moment to let out a slow rumbling growl of a sound. The other Pokémon reacted similarly. Zuzu moved closer to Ace's injured side obviously aware of it's weakness.

"Oh hello" a young man said walking out from his cover. They all seemed a little surprised by him. Above his shoulder a Koffing levitated and by his side sat a Growlithe. The man had short blue hair and his clothes…

"You're from Team Rocket!" Erik growled seeing the uniform. Misty took notice of something important though.

"Why are you wearing white instead of black then?" the man seemed to find that amusing since his first reaction was to laugh. It was true though other than losing the hat the only difference between the clothes he wore and the Team Rocket uniform they were all familiar with was that it was white.

"Well…" the man seemed to pause as if thinking about it "maybe if you gave me that Pikachu…"

"No fucking way" everyone spun looking at Erik, to Ace had met Erik once and he'd come off as more of the controlled type. This was… _Interesting_

"I agree" he added "there's no chance in hell" Misty nodded

"You know long ago he was meant to join us" the man continued "Fire originally brought him to a member of Team Rocket… For some reason she changed her mind though" the man shrugged "hmmm seems I've lost my manners… I am James and I really do suggest you hand that Pokémon over to me…"

"Why? You may not have noticed but you are surrounded" Misty remarked coldly, suddenly two vines appeared from the forest behind James and plucked Strike right off the ground and handing it to the Rocket.

"Well that mattered so much!" He mocked returning his Pokémon and holding the Pikachu by a gloved hand. When Strike tried to shock him nothing happened.

"The gloves are rubber!" Ace called out

"Smart of you to notice kid" James said releasing a Charizard and leaping on it. Strike straggled doing an equivalent of a scream as they took off.

"Zuzu!" Ace yelled grabbing hold of the Pokémon's legs as it came close.

"Hold on your injury!" The gym leaders called out to him he shook his head. No one took a Pokémon from him.

"No! I've got to get back Strike now!" he didn't have time to see if the other trainers had flying types. Having Zuzu be able to carry him was one of the perks of being small, until the Pokémon evolved it had a very limited amount of weight it could carry and he was highly aware that right now him and Magic were all he had to fight this guy. "Take me in!" He told Zuzu, the Pokémon obeyed and Ace executed a jump landing on the tail end of James's Pokémon.

"You're pretty determined kid" The man made a grab for him but it was obviously difficult while he was holding the struggling Pikachu. That gave Ace an idea.

"And you're pretty demented! Stealing some kid's Pokémon, wearing a pretend Team Rocket uniform…" James made a grab for Ace this time and as the boy dodged and the Rocket lost balance. Ace made no move to grab him instead he caught the distressed Strike.

After a few moments of deep breaths a voice came from behind him.

"That was just plain stupid" he turned seeing atop his own Charizard with an incapacitated James was the champion of the Kanto region Leaf Green-Oak. Leaf moved James slightly and the man let out a groan. "Tell your Pokémon to land"

"Charizard ground" it wasn't like James had any other choice in the matter. The Pokémon wasn't happy about it and Ace had to hold on to avoid being thrown off. They landed near the Gym leaders though and Leaf basically just threw James on the ground and moved to see if Ace and Strike were okay.

"How was that stupid?" Ace asked finally to the younger trainer, Leaf shrugged

"Apart from how you were too high to survive the fall an almost let him fall to his death?" Leaf nodded to James "You know the Elite Four that group that have started to cause trouble?" The Gym leaders had made their way up to him "those ones that are you know ridiculously over powered?"

"Yeah one gave me these wounds" Ace glared at Leaf, he was just being an ass or something he figured. "Her name was Lorelei"

"Lucky that's all she did" Leaf remarked "they're working with these white team rocket guys and with this guy Chrome"

"Chrome?" Ace said "wait as in the guy who lives off in Viridian Forest?" that caught the champion's interest.

"You know him?"

"Well yeah… I spent a lot of time in the forest as a kid… he taught me how to create potions that far out did what markets sold" _at a price of a few bad side effects_ "strange guy but he was nice enough" Leaf didn't seem to like that comment.

"I'm not so sure… He's the person who asked the white team rocket members to hunt down Strike" Leaf explained. Ace shook his head.

"Chrome wouldn't do that!" He called out a little mad he began to mutter "this is all games what would be the point of sending them to get Strike?" Ace shook his head again.

"Where did you hear that Leaf?" Erik inquired his face calm again absorbing the information.

"Where'd you think? Blue told me… He also thinks there's a connection between these new uniformed Rockets, the Elite Four and Scarlet Red's group" he paused waiting to see if anyone would inject a comment "This Chrome guy's mixed up in it and probably since he wanted Strike, connected to Fire's disappearance but Blue hasn't worked out how" Erik shook his head

"Well at least we know Blue has been working" he seemed to think about his next comment "is he any closer to finding Fire?" Leaf sighed

"I don't think so… It's always bad when there's a chance Scarlett Red's involved… He gets a bit…."

"Obsessive? Violent? One track minded?" the Champion became a bit sheepish.

"I wouldn't put it in those terms… But he doesn't seem like he's in a fantastic condition and nether do any of you for that matter" Leaf pulled his hand through his brown hair "seriously I'm almost feeling bad for not turning up injured or obviously sleep deprived"

"Trust me Leaf that is _nothing_ to feel guilty about" Erik told him good naturedly "is there anything else?" Leaf's facial expression changed slightly, it became harder before he turned back to Ace.

'Listen… I used to follow Fire and Blue around. They were on a whole other level from me, maybe not more powerful but they could and do think like the people we are fighting. That is something I have had to learn fast" he pointed to the wound on Ace's side "that is the least of your worries, that is nothing. What I'm trying to say is are you even sure you're ready for this? In all likely hood we will be fighting not just the Elite Four but these Rockets and whatever that guy Chrome has in order for us"

Ace let there be silence for a moment before he answered

"You said you learnt fast so teach me" Leaf seemed to smile slightly at that

"Hang on…" they both turned to Erik who had something in his hand. "Ace take this he should help you out with your journey" as he handed it to the boy Ace realized it was a Paras in a Pokeball.

/L.G/

After he made sure that Ace's wounds had healed he took him to one of his favourite training grounds. The area was mostly rock, dead plant life and uninhabited by anything but Pokémon. There was a good clean river nearby though.

The first night they sat together near the water so he could explain a few things to Ace.

"This is going to be different then most training you've probably done, I'm a lot more forgiving then Fire or Blue but I'm not letting you leave here until I think you are prepared and understand what you are going up against." Ace nodded "any questions?" Ace turned away slightly which confused him.

"Okay one… It's kind of awkward but since it's just us out here alone… Those rumours I heard about ummm you and the…"

_Oh shit really now…. Might as well just say it_

"Yeah I'm gay is there a problem with that?" Ace shook his head quickly

"Ahhh… no I just…. Sorry an you forget that happened?"

Seeing as there were a lot worse things Ace could have said at that moment and the situation they were in at the moment… Leaf decided to drop it.

**Thought I should bring that little detail up… Yeah since Leaf was 12 in the first story I thought it really wasn't the right time to have him say it…**

**Sorry this is a long note guys but we also hit the end of the first volume of the Yellow arc (due to me changing things around massively).**

**Trainer:** Chrome Yellow

**Badges**: ?

**Pokemon**

**Found:** ?

**Caught:** ?

**Chrome's team as of Chapter 4**

?

**And remember folks don't flame unless you have an extinguisher!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey guys got busy sorry. Few quick things.**

**Updates may be irregular for a while I'm sorry but it's hand up time for the next week or so.**

**Review guys! I want to know what you're thinking.**

**I hate this chapter it's more of a time passing character development chapter for Ace and Leaf. However in the manga I disliked these chapters so that doesn't help.**

Chapter 5

/A/

He watched in silence as Leaf trained. It was interesting.

The Charizard threw a boulder at his trainer and at first Ace thought they were having some kind of argument. Charizards could be temperamental and if their trainer lost their respect… generally said trainer was then dead.

However the whole thing was simply a training exercise in which the Scyther that Ace could barely see (Leaf obviously kept up with its speed and agility training) sliced through the boulder well before it hit its trainer.

"You just going to stand there?" the champion turned a smirk on his face, he knew what he was doing was impressive. It was a show of how powerful he was. Ace would let that slide with friends like Fire and Blue it was unsurprising the late bloomer would want to put on an impressive display.

"Just thinking I won't be sending Titan out against your Scyther when we fight for real" the champion turned to his Pokémon before looking back at Ace with a curious look.

"When?"

"You're champion and I'll be the one taking you down" Ace smirked.

"Obvious is it?" Leaf said noticing the expression on his face "you do realize people have been trying to dethrone me for two years now and look still champion" Ace simply shrugged at him as if that meant nothing.

"None of them were me_._ I am a one of a kind" Leaf smirked at the comment.

"Cocky bastard… Although I have to admit something, I have no idea how to train you in this kind of stuff" Ace looked up at the trainer "I mean I learned it by getting poisoned by a ninja and a few other events."

"So… Story time then?"

"You never heard about the whole Koga thing from Fire?" Ace shook his head.

"When it was just me and Fire… I did most of the talking" Ace grinned at the memory. "That or she was rushing off to her next big battle."

"Well… it wasn't one of my finer moments… two years ago back in Saffron Koga and I were fighting. Actually it wasn't really a fight. The room was dark so I couldn't see anything and stupidly I made light and talked, the whole time he knew exactly where I was. In the end he poisoned me because of my own stupidity" Leaf took a deep breath "I kept talking about an honourable fight but the thing is that's a choice you make. Do you fight honourably? Because your opponent may not, hell your friends may not. You have to be twice as good as everyone else to stand a chance. Koga didn't fight honourably and after that I lost consciousness."

"Then what?" Ace was interesting now, he knew that in the end Koga had been shot by Fire but what had happened to Leaf wasn't known by too many. Actually neither was the fact that Fire had shot Koga Ace knew that because Bill had told him. Most people just knew someone shot the Poison gym leader… and he lived.

"My Aunt got me to a lab in Saffron, healed me and I got right back to the fight… Then we took back Saffron. Other than that there aren't many stories really… A challenger pulled a gun on me once. Blue was with me and disarmed him by throwing a knife at his hand, lots of blood but he lived"

_The Hunter's losing his touch or something? _Ace thought curiously but he doubted Leaf even knew about his friend's little nickname. _At least Fire just refuses her nature he hides it._

"You learn anything from that mess?" Leaf asked scratched his head obviously self conscious.

"When I was young I went to Viridian City to… sell some things that Chrome had made. They were all to happy to take them but when I explained how they were made I was run out of town" Ace remembered the memory vividly "Pokémon cells used to help humans, human cells to help Pokémon. They thought it was the most disgusting thing they had heard of… I told them that what they had done to the river was the most disgusting thing_ I_ had heard of. We are all disposed to be horrible to each other why would we need to be honourable?" Leaf scrunched up his face at the comment. "I guess who else other than us huh?" Ace finished with a sigh and leaning back.

"I always hated that river" Leaf said "everyone always told me not to go in it…"

"And it smells funky? Try swimming in to wounded… If it wasn't for my team and that Seadra…"

"What about the river here? It's much cleaner" Leaf stretched

"You really have no idea what to do do you?" the boy smirked at him.

"Ace shut up and come to the river with me"

Leaf was correct the water was much cleaner than the river in Viridian forest. Ace could see the Pokémon swimming about in the harsh current.

"So… the point?" He asked looking at Leaf.

"We aren't going to put you at gun point that would be stupid but 'story time' as you dubbed it gave me an idea. The water here is pretty clean but full of surprises"

"Yeah that current is nasty" Ace wasn't following at all.

"Exactly the thing that was the hardest for me to learn was how the world looked nice and all but really… It's metaphorical training try and swim up the current" Ace raised an eye brow at the brunet.

"Because that's not monumentally danger-yeah I see your point" he'd give Leaf this the guy had a brain and he used it. But he ran with the Hunter and Fire and wasn't dead so that wasn't _too _shocking. He also had an edge to him as the training proved, at least the water was clean though enough that he wouldn't get a suspicious rash from swimming in it.

Ace watched the water thinking about it for a long time, getting up steam would be easy if he had a water Pokémon with him however he hadn't added any team members since Magic because it hadn't really suited him.

_And all that mess... _He didn't include Strike in that because Strike wasn't his. He could just get Magic to use psychic it would be simple and make the whole task pointless but what better way to mess with the Pokémon Champion then mess up his lesson?

"Magic" the Pokémon exited it's pokeball and looked at him expectantly "I need you to help me swim upstream" the Pokémon blinked once but obeyed using psychic to slowly lift Ace into the water. The water never even touched him as he moved up stream. He turned to look at Leaf who had now sat himself on a rock to watch. "Wow that was so hard" Ace smirked that was until he noticed the look on the Pokémon Champion's face.

Leaf was just watching passively. He gave the slightest of smiles when Ace called out but that was it. Ace looked around him trying to find what was going to jump out at him or the rock he was about to trip over. Leaf could only know something was going to happen. The task was meant to be hard to teach him a lesson and he had completely undemanded it, Leaf should be furious but he was just sitting there watching.

Ace was about to say something, try and get a rise out of him. He was missing something and he might be able to get what that was out of Leaf if he could get him angry enough.

That was when it happened. Magic may have been powerful but it couldn't hold an attack forever especially with such a strong current as an opponent. The psychic shielding around Ace's feet was removed and his legs buckled with the sudden force on his lower leg. Magic trying to help his trainer stopped the shielding to pull Ace up but this only led to him falling under the current completely. Submerged Ace could see all the dirt the current had kicked up but he also quickly lost track of which way the surface was.

Ace started planning his next move, calculating how much air he had in his lungs when something grabbed hold of him and carried him to the surface. It then unceremoniously threw him onto the shore where he coughed up dirty river water.

"Ace?" He heard Leaf say as the boy looked over him checking how he was. Ace pulled away and looking at his saviour who looked back at him, it seemed rather proud.

"You want more food?" He said with a sigh as the Seadra fluttered it's fins in a yes. "I don't have any on me right now" he told it but that didn't deter the creature. He had seen this several times before, the Seadra was smart it knew it could get food from him so it saw no point in looking for another source.

Ace threw a pokeball and it was caught almost instantly.

/

It had been about two months since Ace had almost drowned (though according to Leaf he was going to have his Golduck save him if necessary) the time had been filled with various training exercises and battles. None had been as… well none had been as interesting as that first day. Leaf was right he couldn't predict what would happen but that was what made the game so much fun.

_What's better than building something then taking it apart before building it again? Having a spanner thrown in the works by someone unpredictable and seeing where that will lead…_ He threw some meat to the Seadra he had named Mercury apparently most water Pokémon had high levels of it.

Now they were just sitting in the morning sun by the water. Above them Leaf's Pidgeot flew keeping watch. They sat in silence which was why it was so noticeable when the Pidgeot let out a warning cry and Mercury's fins stopped before twitching slightly.

"Something's coming" Leaf stood up looking about them he released his Pokémon. Ace followed his lead knowing that the Seadra would only be of use in water.

Circling around the short hills and trees around them came a pack of wild Mankey. Ace looked them over half starved and had probably come to the area looking for a food source. The group was large which was probably why they were so hungry. Smaller family groups of the Pokémon survived with relative ease while larger ones solved their hunger problems in various ways including leaving those that couldn't survive behind or just eating them. There wasn't a lot of time to plan as the primate Pokémon jumped them as soon as they were in sight.

Leaf and Ace stood, their Pokémon surrounding them protecting them but only a few minutes into the fight it was obvious what would happen.

"Too many to just keep fighting them!" Leaf called out.

"They're a pack! Take out the leader and the rest will follow" Ace explained searching for the leader.

"Over there!" Ace glanced at Leaf who was pointing to his right were a Primeape sat on a dead tree log watching them. "Ace we need to clear a path to him" he was right and Ace knew just how to do it.

"I've got it covered Leaf!" he said with a smirk "Pi!" the Paras he had gotten from Erik two months earlier was perfect for the job. Ace pointed "sleep powder that way!" the Pokémon obeyed sending out the powder clearing a path.

"Go!" Leaf called out as his Golduck and Charizard moved to keep the path clear as long as possible. Ace nodded.

"Zuzu, Strike with me!" Strike landed on his shoulder as the Zubat flew above them. "Strike paralyse anyone who comes at us!" from the Pikachu's vantage point on his shoulder it was able to hit anyone in the vicinity with ease.

They sprinted right up to the leader who stood ready to fight.

"Zuzu wing attack!" the attack hit the Primeape square in the face knocking him back but not down. The creature let out a loud growl as it leaped towards Ace. Ace jumped out of the way as Zuzu flew in and hit with another wing attack unfortunately the Primeape also landed a Karate chop.

The Zubat spiralled backwards into the dirt. It rolled about creating a cloud of dust as it screeched repeatedly, it was trying to understand where it was.

"Zuzu!" Ace yelled seeing the Pokémon in the dirt. The Primeape threw another Karate chop but this time at Ace, the boy dodged quickly and Strike let out a discharge attempting to ward the Pokémon off.

Ace moved towards Zuzu before noticing something the Pokémon had stopped panicking and was instead glowing. Quickly the Zubat became a Golbat and able to see it leaped up into the air ready to fight again. It flew right into the Primeape's face the enemy stood still for a moment shocked at the Golbat's stunt, Ace took his chance.

"Wing attack!" the attack criticised knocking the Primeape back. The others seeing this stood for a moment before grabbing their wounded and running. Ace panted and looked over at Leaf who was too.

"Well… that went well"

**And remember folks don't flame unless you have an extinguisher!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Sup? Time for Blue to be… Blue**

**Again sorry about slow updates but I have a lot of school work at the moment as I only have three weeks left after that updating should go back to being more predictable.**

**Edit* Sorry guys just fixed a mistake in the chapter**

Chapter 6

/R.B/

One of the things Blue hated the most about the sort of work he did was that no matter what you ended up right back where you started.

It especially pissed him off when it had taken him about two months to get right back where he started.

The file Blue had had about Fire had told him she and Bill had been looking into the Viridian Research centre as a possible means to cement Kanto's standing again. He had never pegged Fire for a political mind then again she was a sneaking little thing…

He smiled slightly before he shifted slightly on his perch and relaxed. There were few things to comfort one when they were alone watching a building other than their own thoughts. He hadn't seen anyone exit or enter the building in about three hours and the defences seemed pretty minor.

_That said… The Elite Four probably don't need a huge amount of back up._ He reminded himself of his previous finds about the connections between the Elite Four, the Chrome guy, Team Rocket and of all people Scarlet Red. He hoped Leaf had gotten the message back to Erik, Blue was too busy following his own leads. _You know if it was any one other then Fire who had gotten mixed up in something like this I might actually question it._

He sighed three hours was long enough. He had been watching the building for a few days now and knew for a fact the place wasn't as abandoned as everyone claimed it to be. That said he had realized speaking to the locals that very few of them ventured off the paths in Viridian forest. However they did so for many good reasons.

And unsurprisingly the Research centre was quite far off the beaten track.

Having made the decision to go for it tonight Blue moved from his hiding place and using the path he had chosen while doing his watches (it contained the most cover) Blue moved quickly to a side door he had never seen used. Due to the plans he had gotten he knew that this door would come out in a far hall that contained very few laboratories. However the plans were a few years old and seeing as the building was gathering dust as far as the bureaucrats were concerned… When trying to pretend a place is abandoned and not suspicious at all it probably wasn't a good idea to hand in new plans every time there was a change.

Luckily the hall had also been gathering dust and was as used as he had hoped. He found this when he entered the building after professionally picking the lock.

Blue moved as swiftly as possible, he released Ghoul his Gengar to work within the shadows and scout for him.

As he moved into the further in parts of the research centre he had to dodge a few people. Unsurprisingly he saw one of those white rocket uniforms every once in a while. It seemed they didn't really have the place staffed or anything. If he really had to write a report (which he often did and Erik often said they were terrible and he really should have finished school) he would put that the Research centre seemed more like a badly organised base then a abandoned building or a totally legit research centre.

He couldn't tell though if this was the main base after all the low staff suggested not but all the others seemed like smaller and irregularly used bolt holes. That reminded him while he was here he should look around to see if he can find any more information on other bases. If Fire wasn't in the Research Centre there was a chance that she could be in another base along with more clues as to what this bizarre team up was up to.

Blue moved further down the hall when he saw something that really shocked him, long red hair… that was definitely Jessie over there talking to a Rocket. Last message he had received from Erik about a month or so ago said she was off the grid looking for Bill.

Although that did make sense this place was obviously a still in working condition laboratory and a possible place to hide a brainiac while you force him to work for you. Blue chose not to make contact though, with Jessie being here it seemed unlikely that Bill was or she would have moved him a while ago. The fact she was here probably meant she was trying to find another lead and wouldn't want him messing up her work.

Blue moved through the corridors quickly and seeing some men walk out of a laboratory he entered figuring it was worth a shot.

He searched the papers on the desk first looking for anything of worth.

"You're not going to find anything here" Blue glanced up seeing Jessie "_she's_ not here"

"Priority yes but only thing I'm after? No." he noticed the change in her facial expression then. He moved quick dodging the Arboc's strike. "Ghoul!" The ghost type appeared and held the woman against the nearest wall.

"Really shouldn't have tried that" she said as Blue's Wiggilytuff quickly dealt with her Pokémon.

"You do realize I helped to bring down Team Rocket and you know came third in the Pokémon league at twelve right?" Blue replied coolly playing with a throwing knife "should I even ask what this is? It's a pretty clear declaration that you are a traitor which makes quite a bit of sense"

"Do tell" Jessie hissed

"Well you were undercover for how long and never gave anything of use" Blue shrugged "I guess this explains how you still haven't found Bill… Or have you? Ghoul" The ghost prepared it's attack

"You wouldn't dare" the woman narrowed her eyes and Blue realized something. Grabbing a cloth of the desk he balled it up ready to shove in her mouth.

"Sorry can't have you screaming darling" Jessie seemed to realize he wasn't kidding then.

"Bill's here not sure where though… I don't keep up with his schedule"

"Fire?" the woman shook her head.

"Long gone before I got here, no one knows where she went hell they wouldn't even tell me what happened to her. Anything else?" Blue shook his head. "Then you'll knock me out then or take me with you. I know how Erik's rules work" a dark smirk slowly spread over Blue's lips.

"Oh honey… I really don't play by his rules" before she could speak again he sliced the knife across her throat so that her screams became gargled cries and hid her away in a storage closet along with the cloth he had used to clean up the blood.

"That wasn't too messy" he told the Gengar who agreed and the two left. Blue needed to find Bill, even if it wasn't his main goal.

It wasn't too difficult though it was a game of spot and incapacitate the guard, a game Blue had played far too often. After that getting into the lab was easy just walk in and hide the guards as you do. He got a good look at Bill though who didn't look particularly good for his two month stay.

"Sup?" Blue waved and the action caused Bill to jump slightly.

"Sorry" he said rubbing his eyes "what are yall doin' ere?"

"Rescue?" the word seemed to make Bill's eyes light up and with a good look at the burses on his exposed arms, his pale skin and the dark circles under his eyes Blue wasn't exactly shocked by that. "We'll have to move fast" he explained leaving the little detail about the corpse as not to freak Bill out. The man nodded though.

"I've worked with Far I know a'lil about hot water situations" Yeah Blue had heard a few things about those like being chased down by a pack of wild Arcane…

"This one involves you doing exactly what I say" Bill shrugged

"Sounds about tha same then" Blue just rolled his eyes wondering if Bill really wanted to be saved or if he just wanted to sass him. But then he remembered the condition of the guy, he had obviously not been treated well here so a little sass might be the best outcome.

"Alright let's go" Blue moved to the door and doing a quick check he proceeded to shut the door calmly. Then he spun around having lost his previously cocky expression "On second thought that window" he pointed to one of the square windows along the right wall. "Right now" Bill moved to open the window or smash the glass while Blue attempted to hold the door.

"Yall can't handal a few grunts?" Blue shook his head

"Grunts yes… that no" Bill smashed the window with a Bunsen burner and the two of them where outside fast enough to dodge a kick that came through the door reducing it to splinters. Bill just stared for a second.

"Was that?" Blue grabbed his arm

"Less talking more running for our lives" Bill nodded running as best he could but still being semi dragged by the much fitter Blue.

"Really think you can just run from me?" Blue didn't even turn his head as he answered

"No Mr black belt I'd thought we could slow jog our way to safety" Blue knew there was an uneven part to the forest coming up, a cliff. He needed to make it there for his escape plan to work; it was a pretty shitty plan to start with though so he wasn't holding his breath.

There was a very simple fact that Blue was very aware of. Out of his little three man band of trainers (meaning him, Fire and Leaf) Blue was the weakest in an all out battle. Bruno of the Elite four on the other hand… He was a fighting trainer, a type all about raw power. The man himself was from a group that he knew both Fire and Leaf would have trouble with in a fight so what hope did he have?

"You are a coward boy" the man told him as they reached the cliff. Blue turned this time to speak to him. It was the first time he had seen the man in person, he had seen photographs during his investigations. A young adult male of twenty four years, black hair, black eyes… Yeah that didn't prepare him for the mass of muscle he saw, Blue had shit for luck.

"Why yes I am" Blue replied jumping off the cliff still holding Bill. He released Fear who was used to this sort of thing so without a moment's hesitation he moved to grab them. The draft created by the dive the Pokémon had to take meant that it got a speed boost on the way up, the thing Blue had been hoping for.

The thing that really worried him was how Bruno didn't follow them… Correction how he hadn't caught them. He just stood on the cliff's edge with his Pokémon watching them go.

"Bill what were you working on?"

"Pretty sure I was just lookin over that Chrome guy's formulas" Bill paused "they aren't good… Lots of ways to hurt, kill and it doesn't seem to discriminate"

"So… they kidnapped you to look over his formulas?" that seemed odd to Blue something was missing.

"Well thing' is, Chrome's stuff seemed ta be that old kill everything sort ta thing. Where as tha Elite Four seems more…" Bill seemed to realise something "shit… They 'ad me lookin at how ta make that stuff only kill humans…"

"Um… How did you not notice that?"

"Because Blue… I was researching ways ta protect Pokémon from tha effects not hurt humans by them."

"So are we talking rich, crazy psychopaths with a bio weapon?"

"Don't know about the first but defiantly the second" Bill said without a second thought

"Well shit…"

**Okay so you know how the yellow arc in the manga was about bringing back lugia with badges? Yeah I had no idea how that could even conceivably work so I just went with weapons of mass destruction!**

**And remember folks don't flame unless you have an extinguisher!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Sup guys? Updating this week when I have time as I'm going into the EVERYTHING IS DUE!111!1! times so I may not get another chance for a while.**

Chapter 7

/E/

The message had come via a private line used by Erik's spies. The numbers at the top suggested it was Blue.

Blue requesting a meeting? That was unusual yes but not unheard of. Erik had just figured he'd put some big detail together about one of the fifty things he seemed to be looking into… That weren't what he had been told to do.

The meeting place didn't surprise him too much either. It was a small hotel in down town Celadon. It was a little run down but still in perfect working order.

Blue had picked a few seedy places mostly a little out of town for when he needed to directly pass on delicate information. But this place had a few more people in it then Blue's usual places.

Erik was also highly aware of the fact he had had to dress down for this. His usual clothing would catch to much attention so he had chosen jeans and a t-shirt. This was something Blue always laughed at him for since it apparently made him look like he might actually be only a year older than him. As he glanced around the room he took note of how the walls were yellow and obviously in need of a paint job, they even had cracks in them. The woman at the counter nodded to him.

"Up in room forty six sweetie" She told him with a wink and a laugh. One of the patrons at the bar just next to the desk laughed as well.

"An't he a little young Cassidy?" the woman lightly hit him.

"There is a difference between nice and _that _Butch" Erik left the group as the two traded comebacks and the rest of the room laughed. He needed to find Blue.

While the hotel had two floors there were twenty on the first level and the rest on the next level up. For some reason they had just continued with the numbering instead of going with one-something for the first floor and two-something for the second.

The staircase to the upper floor looked pretty pitiful. It was a large wood creation that would have once been something to behold, now it looked tired with large chips almost like bites out of it.

The second floor wasn't much better than the first, this place might actually have been worse than the usual places Blue met him in or was he really as much of a snob as Blue joked?

After a few wrong turns (the layout wasn't that fantastic either) he found himself in front of room Twenty six. The door was open which shocked him and as he entered it was closed by something. He turned seeing a large Raichu.

"Sorry little Lord we couldn't have you running out on us before we could get a word in" Erik froze he knew that voice. Sure enough in front of him stood Surge the man who until two years ago had been a gym leader like himself.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Erik growled. Surge shrugged nodding to a figure further into the room that made Erik's reaction to Surge seem miniscule. His stomach basically dropped out of him and his heart felt like it was hitting the wall of his rib cage.

In an old arm chair fiddling with loose threads watching him was of all people Fire Red. She looked different though. Fire had gotten sick of being confused with a boy so she had grown her hair out over the last two years. Now it was back to the old unkempt and awkwardly cut boyish look she always said she hated.

She had also replaced her short sleeved jacket for some sort of longer sleeved coat; still red it clung to her more though, showing off that she was indeed female but also significantly thinner than he had ever seen her.

The hat was still there lowered over her eyes.

But there was something definitely wrong with her. Over the last two years he had watched Fire become more cheerful, while she had kept that serious and calculating side it sometimes took a back seat for a moment. Instead of the cheerfulness just being an act she actually felt it. Now… She seemed more disturbed then the first time he had met her, like a wild Pokémon that was trapped in a cage it could barely turn in.

"Hello…" She finally said after the prolonged staring contest. He noticed she spoke in a harsh low tone like the words were being pulled from her mouth. "Sorry, Blue taught me his code a while back in case he needed to contact me"

_Of cause he did._ Erik thought staying silent.

"Hey little lord didn't you spend a lot of time trying to find her and now you're just glaring at the kid?" Erik glanced over at Surge he noted an almost protective tone.

"Sorry I'm just digesting the fact that Fire has been gone for five months and she shows up in a hotel room with you of all people?" he noticed Fire flinch at his tone slightly, that was very odd. _Of all the theories to be correct…_

"That's not…" Fire started

"Not the kid's fault and if you listened instead of sitting on your little pedestal…" Surge turned back to Fire "I told you we should have gone to the Blue kid" it was Erik's turn to look at Fire.

"Why didn't you? You can always find him when he goes off the radar anyway" her position changed she was looking down at her hands and moving them in a lost fidgety way.

"Surge can you go?" She asked the man "I am aware you are here to make sure I don't cause myself any further damage but… That's a little unlikely don't you think?" she looked up at him smiling pleasantly but the smile made Erik shiver or it was her eyes?

Was it possible that Fire's eyes could get deader?

Surge shrugged something that surprised Erik.

"I'll be out by the door kid" he said leaving the room but shooting Erik one last glare before he did. "I will be right outside" Fire shook her head slightly almost looked exasperated before she stood and walked over to Erik.

"I… I called you because Blue would…" she shook her head trying to clear her thoughts "I couldn't handle Blue's reaction… I thought you might be calmer"

_That was it?_

"Sorry if I wasn't calm enough for you" Erik shot back arms folded "but really have you been gone five months teaming up with Team Rocket of all things?" the look on her face changed becoming almost unreadable. The mix of emotions on it was too hard, it took him a moment to realize she was crying.

_That _was something completely new to him.

It was just small tears and no loud sobs but it left him dumbfounded.

"Fire?" He wasn't sure what to do at that moment so he just gave in and hugged her. She didn't pull away so it seemed like the right idea and after a few minutes of just that in silence she finally spoke.

"I got caught…" her voice seemed to lower as she spoke, like she couldn't keep speaking. He pulled away slightly so he could look at her face.

"We guessed something like that happened. Bill filled us in" he explained, for some reason Fire was finding it hard to speak and he didn't want to push her. At the same time he wasn't able to hold her gaze any longer so he lowered his eyes slightly seeing three jagged scars across her cheek, they were definitely new. "Down at the Viridian Research Centre"

"There was trouble" she still spoke in a quiet unused voice. "Yellow caught me and tortured me" as the words left her mouth Erik stiffened. All the scars he had begun to noticed now stood out even more to him, the jacket and black shirt beneath it were slightly off her shoulder revealing a large almost dent in her skin.

"Chrome Yellow?" Blue had mentioned the name previously along with Ace. "This whole time?"

"First three months…. Last two I was in recovery" she shuffled uneasily "Giovanni didn't want me hurting myself more so I didn't contact you till now"

"So… Team Rocket saved you and gave you medical attention? However they wouldn't let you contact us till now" that didn't sound suspicious at _all_. Fire grabbed his face with her hand stunning him for a second. She obviously just wanted him to meet her eyes.

"No… Not bad it's just… Giovanni and I respect each other and he… spent a lot of money on me so he didn't want me opening my wounds." She let go of him then and looked at the door "Surge sort of understands this…"

Erik still didn't like this, _respect_ wasn't in his eyes a good enough reason for Giovanni to do anything for Fire.

"Okay so you mentioned respect but… why would Giovanni put so much money into your recovery…"

"Giovanni isn't a bad person… He just made a lot of mistakes and felt he could never come back from them. Half the reason Unova doesn't attack us is the threat of Team Rocket never trading with then again" she sighed "it's so morally gray… I guess that's why I can understand…"

After that they were silent for a long time just standing together.

"Hey…" She was hesitant "did you guys find Strike?"

"You have everyone else?" She nodded "Strike went off with that Ace kid" he stopped seeing her face "what?"

"I got to go get Strike" she said simply "that and see Blaine" she pulled away from him then and headed for the door.

"You need any more help with that?" she glanced back at him.

"You have more important things to do… And Surge will be coming" Erik shrugged

"While that is a massive con I have one really important thing to take care of" _and that's making sure you're okay _he added in his head. She seemed to understand and a slight smile appeared on her lips as she tugged the cap back down over her eyes.

**And remember folks don't flame unless you have an extinguisher!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Namine Rose25****- Thanks for the review. Yeah some of the most fun I had was with taking Yellow and warping the character so much and having Fire back is always fun. It is a lot of fun to give everyone else a chance to shine through.**

**Also fixed something back in chapter six that I missed. It said chemical weapon instead of bio weapon. I mention it so that it doesn't cause confusion later.**

Chapter 8

/A/

Ace walked through the port city of Vermillion looking about himself curiously.

Sometimes he really did have to marvel at what could be done. A little over two years ago this place had been the sight of an utterly devastating terrorist attack and now it was almost completely rebuilt.

Ace had been pretty surprised when after two months of training Leaf said to pack it up.

"_Seriously?" Ace said as Leaf cleaned up their camp. "It's been two months…" The look on Leaf's face stopped him._

"_Yeah but…" Leaf shook his head "In the first few days you figured out the big lesson and since then we've just been training" Ace nodded._

"_Yeah so?"_

"_Ace… We could keep just training forever but it won't help us" the younger boy folded his arms "it's actually left me with a question for you" Ace raised his eye brow "You can already fight Ace… And it doesn't seem like a recent thing so why haven't you ever come to the Pokémon league? Because that seems to be your goal" Ace shrugged._

"_I guess because in the end… I had preferred to watch" Ace explained_

"_Then why are you actively getting involved in a situation where you will have to fight someone like the Elite Four?"_

"_What can I say? I'm running out of patience" the look on the Kanto Champion's face was exactly what Ace had expected after the boy heard his musing, utter confusion. "Maybe I've spent the most time with Fire but I've seen you guys run head first in to a lot of situations. I've run out of patience watching and figure it's time for me to have some fun" he grinned back at the champion._

He really should have expected Leaf's reaction to the fact that his team was at the very least adequately trained.

Ace walked down the street with Strike in front, the Pokémon seemed a particularly sober in this city.

It was then something caught his eye. There was an older woman talking to a younger man, something like that on it's own wasn't odd… However it was rather noticeable the two didn't look at all alike, meaning the chance of them being related was incredibly low.

He also took into account that they were in an alley off to the side. Not suspiciously so but this didn't look like two neighbours talking.

There was also the way the man would after every word glance about nervously while the old woman was so calm and collected. After the conversation seemed to be finished the man walked away past Ace.

Looking up the next thing Ace noticed was the fact that the old lady had already disappeared. He quickly walked over and checked the alley only seeing disappearing smoke, which was… odd.

Ace left it at that though, chasing after the woman looked virtually impossible while the man seemed to be having trouble disappearing in the crowd…

/L.G/

Leaf had come to the city with Ace but had quickly left the older boy by himself. Thing was there was a place that Leaf wanted to visit.

On the shore there sat a statue. The thing was small made from some left over scrap iron that had been warped into the shape of a Dratini. He could remember when it was placed up here as a memorial to Draty….

"Fire really has a way with names" he chuckled to himself.

"Yes…" Leaf froze, he hadn't heard anyone come up behind him "I never would have expected her to name him something like _Draty_" the snicker was barely audible, Leaf turned his head, his fingers inched towards the pokeballs on his belt.

Standing behind him almost relaxed was Lance of the Elite Four. His red hair stood spiked like a dragon fangs and he was smirking. Leaf's eyes narrowed at the man.

"Why are you here?" He asked already working on a strategy that might work against such a trainer. Lace laughed again.

"What would make you think you would even have a chance in hell?" Lance moved swiftly, he elbowed Leaf in the stomach winding him. After that he kicked the boy and proceeded to stand with his foot on Leaf's chest with slight pressure. "Are you going to say because you are the Champion?"

Leaf glared up at him but did not speak, he grabbed some dirt off the ground throwing it in Lance's face before moving to stand.

Lance kicked him to the ground again this time though he held a gun pointed at Leaf's head.

/A/

Ace noticed the man's attempts to lose anyone following. He was surprised at how obvious the man was, he'd think that from how he acted someone would be following out of suspicion of just seeing him. The man jumped about ten feet at every sound, moved at something in his jacket and dodged about.

Ace really didn't have to do much other then walk looking at the ground and return Strike, the Pokémon was becoming even more antsy as they walked. Vermillion was pretty loud at that time, Ace took a quick look around and realized that they seemed to be heading into an even more crowded area.

It might have been the man's best plan, it might be possible for even him to be lost in a crowd as large as the one that seemed to be gathering. Was it just the best time to go shopping or something?

"Well who do we have here?" Ace turned seeing a woman walking over to him. She was dressed in a white bomber jacket and a pair of jeans, nothing unusual.

"Nothing really" Ace shrugged.

"Oh no… you were following him" Ace narrowed his eyes "that's something I cannot allow!" the woman threw a pokeball in the air releasing a Growlithe.

"Who the hell are you?" the boy asked dodging a flame thrower the woman had sent out not worrying that he hadn't released his own Pokémon. The crowd quickly moved into a circle around them keeping distance.

"My name's not really of consequence" the woman said but looking at the crowd surrounding them she smirked. "I can tell you all this" now she was yelling. "I am a member of Team Rocket, no not the one you all knew. That was a pathetic excuse, a shell of what it could be! I belong to a new Team Rocket, the White Rockets!" She threw off her jacket revealing a white high collared shirt with a large red 'R' on it.

"What the hell is the difference?" Ace asked and the look on the woman's face told him that was exactly what she had wanted.

"We don't have Giovanni and his inability to…" The woman stopped as a loud boom sounded and they all turned.

Not too far away, still in the shopping district a bomb had obviously gone off. The woman began to laugh. Ace raised an eye brow.

"So your friend blew up a building, you got to tell us who you are… anything else?" the woman stopped laughing.

"You think that's it?" she looked around the crowd "I suggest you all start running that wasn't just a bomb and what it released might just be heading this way"

It almost seemed to go in slow motion, the people around Ace looked at each other. Some started running straight away, others it took a moment for the panic to set in.

Ace watched as they ran past him as fast as they could not caring if they hit him. Soon it was just him and her.

"Not going to r-cough-un?" she asked though soon she began to cough and splutter. She collapsed under her own weight. The Growlithe looked at his trainer concerned.

The boy clapped.

"Congratulations… you fanatical idiot you are going to die" Ace started to walk away when he heard her pathetic moans. He released Magic the Kadabra and Ti the Paras. "Ti sleep powder" the Pokémon obeyed and soon both woman and Growlithe were asleep. "Now Magic use dream eater, let the fool dream her last few moments away"

With that Ace walked away.

/L.G/

Leaf heard the sound and Lance allowed him to stand and look at the cloud of smoke.

"Probably took out a few people" the Kanto champion turned back to the Dragon tamer. "But the poison it released? Those nearby will get enough to die almost instantly but those a little further out… It's a lot longer and a _lot_ more painful"

"You did this?" the boy's voice shook with anger "why the hell would you do something like this?" the man shrugged.

"You should be highly familiar with Scarlet Red correct? She wants to create the perfect world by killing the scum" Lance smiled, the disturbing part was it almost seemed fond "she talks about it as if she's pruning a rose garden. I on the other hand realized that humanity is the scum and it all needs to die"

"That's insane!" Leaf yelled "I won't let you do that!" Lance began to laugh again.

"So what? You will stop me? Please Leaf you couldn't even win the title of Champion without someone bowing out. I at least won it fair and square"

"What does that mean?" Leaf yelled at Lance who was moving to leave.

"I would suggest asking Erik" the Kanto champion attempted to follow the man but instead ran only into mist that had been growing during the last half of their conversation.

Giving in Leaf punched a tree out of anger. He needed to call Erik apparently. He also needed to find Ace and he hoped like hell he hadn't anywhere near the blast zone.

**Finished off my third semester of higher education. So I've got a week before my intensive course to play some games and write a little more.**

**And I explained the weapon this chapter! I'll explain it more near the end of the story.**

**And remember folks don't flame unless you have an extinguisher!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Hey a couple things. One I have an intensive course so I'm going to try and get two chapters out this week for you guys since I missed so many weeks while I was studying.**

**And two, new poll on my page this one is about the next story so have a look!**

Chapter 9

/R.B/

Blue was sitting on Bill's couch flipping channels as a Vulpix lounged next to him exposing his belly in the hope of getting it scratched, an Eevee lay in the nearby window's sill. Blue had been enjoying the satellite TV that Bill got since bringing the older boy back to his house, out in the country they didn't get much more then the basic free to air channels.

"Breaking news!" Blue stopped breaking news was always interesting. The pretty little news caster cleared her throat before speaking. "A bomb went off in the main shopping area of Vermillion city. It seemed to have gone off at the bank building of Skyway Avenue."

_A bomb?_

"Bill get in here!" Blue yelled and the other brunette raced in.

"Wha-" Blue shushed him with a gesture turning back to the screen.

"The bomb went off at two pm today" when Blue had been dragging Bill home after out running Bruno during the night. "This seems to be more than just an explosion though since the nearby area has been sealed off for the time being. We will be bringing you more up to date news as it happens" the boys looked at each other.

"It's the formula ain't it?" Bill almost looked defeated, before Blue could speak his phone rang.

"Yeah'llo?"

"A cryptic message that could be summed up with "call me" really?"Blue had to smirk; pissing off Erik had just become a regular part of his job. "Just explain"

So Blue did explaining everything he had found at the Viridian Research Centre including the fact Fire had been moved.

"Blue… Fire contacted me she's alright" Blue froze completely for a moment he could tell Bill was trying to read his expression. Blue calmed himself before replying. _She _had contacted Erik _first_.

"Good…" was all he could get out though.

"Blue I want you to stick with Bill for the moment; I need him looking into what the Elite Four had him working on"

"What about _her_?" there was silence for a moment

"I'm handling it" Blue didn't exactly like that.

/L.G/

Meeting back up with Ace the two headed to the Vermillion city gym. The place was no longer used for the gym challenge but instead as a base for the gym leaders to work from if necessary.

"Champion!" one of the woman called seeing Leaf, he waved her off. After finding Ace he had rushed to the gym. The explosion and loss of lives…

It was sick but as horrible as that was he was also aware that the moment the media knew he was in town he'd never get the chance make this call.

If Erik was reliable for anything it was the fact you knew he'd pick up the phone, anytime any place.

"Leaf? Ace?" Leaf noticed that Erik was dressed casually something he didn't think he'd ever seen before and was obviously packing.

"Are you going on a trip?" the older boy nodded he seemed to think about what he was going to say.

"Yeah I'm going to be checking in on something… is this about the bomb?"

"Yes" _partly_ Leaf added in his head.

"I guessed that…" Erik looked down and soon a pair of blue vines appeared with a shoe. "You are calling from Vermillion after all…"

Leaf really didn't know how to start or what to say. Thing was he didn't need to Ace spoke first.

"I was nearby" they both gave their full attention to the third boy. "I saw this guy talk to an old woman. They seemed suspicious so I followed him after the woman just flat out disappeared into a puff of smoke. A girl then leaped out at me and explained how there was now two Team Rockets the old one and a new one called White Rockets… they were the ones who did the bombing"

"Fantastic" Erik sighed; Leaf could relate. More Rockets did sound just _fantastic_.

"Umm…" Ace seemed to pause for a moment "well the thing is… After the bomb the girl said something about a poison and after that she fell over coughing and died" there was a pause, Erik ran his hand through his hair.

"…oh…" he took a deep breath and Leaf could tell he was only just holding his composure. "that explains a lot. Did it affect Pokémon?" Ace shook his head.

"Why wouldn't it affect Pokémon?" Leaf asked

"I got a call from Blue. He had found Bill, it seems that the Elite Four had him working on a way to make some poison that _Chrome Yellow_" Leaf frowned, Erik almost spat the name "had created not affect Pokémon"

"Chrome? That explains why it didn't hurt me! Chrome injected me with something a long time ago. I was sick for a month but after that when he injected me again and I was fine" Ace seemed thoughtful.

Leaf and Erik just stared at him both thinking how the hell someone could convince someone else to let them do that.

"If the Elite Four is involved I guess that explains something else… I was up where Draty's statue is and I met Lance" Leaf shrugged "maybe he was there to oversee everything" the Grass Gym leader shook his head.

"I doubt it… I'd say the old woman Ace saw has a good chance of being Agatha a Ghost trainer and member of the Elite Four. It's possible Leaf he knew you were coming"

_For me? What have some champion heart to heart?_ The thought crossed Leaf's mind but he hadn't liked it.

"If that's it you two I'm sorry but I need to finish packing" Erik looked about ready to end the call when Leaf shook his head.

"Ace I need to talk to Erik about something" Ace nodded and left though looked as if he wanted to listen in. Erik returned to his packing anyway obviously in a hurry.

"So what's the question?"

"Did I actually beat Fire at the Pokémon League?" Erik stopped and looked at the screen shocked.

"Who…?" Leaf's stomach started to sink.

"Lance said she bowed out… It makes sense in the beginning her head wasn't even in the game. Her heart never was…" Leaf balled his hand into a fist

"Calm down Leaf" Erik said returning to the screen. "You don't understand…"

"Understand? That's just it I never do apparently! I'm always about five steps behind Blue and Fire! The one thing I had doesn't even belo-"

"Enough!" Erik ended his ranting "you want to talk about how life is unfair? Fine but do it with someone else! I'm sorry Leaf you have the right to be angry with me after all it was my plan… Out of the three of you the only person who was clean enough to take the title was you" that wording seemed wrong to Leaf.

"What do you mean by clean?"

"That's something you have to talk about with Blue and Fire but the thing is… there's things about them that could ruin their reputation as champion but you… there isn't anything" the older boy almost looked at him in pity "yes that's stupid but even then I never forced Fire to do anything, she believed the same thing. She believes you are most suited to being champion Leaf! So stop talking about how unfair this all is and start doing your job" Erik paused for a moment seeing that Leaf didn't wish to speak he changed the subject. "Also I wasn't sure when to bring this up but… We found Fire"

"You didn't want to start with that!" Leaf yelled "how is she? What happened?"

"As I said I wasn't sure if I should bring it up… that kind of leads into your other questions. As far as I can tell she isn't seriously wounded physically but mentally… I think you should talk to her at some point about it" Erik went back to packing and there was silence for a while.

"That's where you are going?" Erik nodded his back turned as he folded a pair of jeans.

"She has something she apparently needs to do… I want to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't go disappearing again" Leaf smirked at the protective tone in the older boy's voice.

"How very _cool_ of you Erik" Erik stared at the screen eye brow raised.

"You sounded way to much like Blue with that sarcastic tone of yours" there was another moment of silence. "Leaf I know I shouldn't be asking things of you but can you head to the Viridian Research Centre? That's where Blue found Bill and probably the most likely base for the Elite Four"

Leaf took a moment to think about it, he was angry with Erik for what he had done but if it was a base for the Elite Four there was a possibility of seeing Lance there… He thought back to how the young adult had treated him at Draty's statue and the numb way he talked about all the lives the bomb took…

"Ace and I will head that way right away"

**And remember folks don't flame unless you have an extinguisher!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Sorry tried to keep promise… failed to keep promise. Lots of school, lots of work, lots of life and lots of apologies!**

**Oh and to Guest… Updatezzzzzzz here**

Chapter 10

/E/

Erik wiped the sweat from his brow and of cause Surge noticed.

"Not used to using your feet Little Lord?" Erik just glared because it was too hot to react further as they walked across the farm fields towards Fuchsia city. Erik glanced over towards Fire.

The girl was walking in silence; she stared forward and never acted as if the heat even bothered her. Sometimes he missed even the act Fire put on because at least then Fire would speak to him. He had learnt rather fast that the first conversation he had had with her had been one of the longest the girl had had since she had woken up after surgery.

Surge had given him a basic idea of what had happened. It had been necessary after Fire almost broke his arm because he tapped her on the shoulder, where a large scar apparently was.

Erik sighed, it wouldn't be too much longer but they had to give the flying Pokémon a rest. They had been flying almost flat out and since Fire wanted to avoid Palette Town this had seemed like the best root.

Suddenly there was something right in front of him. A bottle of water, he looked at Fire's face.

"Sorry…" She said and he realized she was referring to the heat and travelling. He took the water and smiled at her.

"What? I said I had nothing better to do" Surge snorted, Erik glared at him again and Fire glanced at both of them before walking ahead of them. With that Erik had lost his chance at a possible conversation. He wasn't used to the long stretches of silence that existed with Fire and it was especially noticeable when the only other person he had to speak to was Surge… that wasn't happening. So there were stretches of hours when no one spoke.

That day they went till nightfall without anything more than a comment here or there. They hadn't seemed to have made much head way through the fields as the sky darkened so they stopped.

"Can't see how you made it around Kanto like this" Surge told Fire as he was putting up a tent.

_Somehow I'm the Little Lord when he refuses to sleep out in the elements._

"Always have" the girl said feeding each of her five Pokémon. She sat still for a moment as she finished feeding Vital the eevee and frowned.

It took Erik a moment but he guessed she was probably thinking about Strike, after that Vital sat on her lap like he always seemed to do and curled up. The act seemed to help Fire slightly.

After dinner Erik took first watch because he found it the easiest, he never had to be woken up. He found it odd how even though he had only travelled with Surge and Fire a few days he had already started to get into the rhythm of it, though the lack of conversation was killing him.

Sitting by the dying flames Erik felt the stiff breeze through his shirt, sighing he scolded himself. He may not have camped often but he should know enough to always have a jacket ready at night, especially in a place with no trees to act as wind breakers.

Another much stronger breeze hit him and he knew he wouldn't last with the fire going out like it was, he couldn't add more wood to it or catch a cold because Surge didn't need more things to pick on him for. So Erik did the intelligent thing and moved quietly as possible to his pack. Cypress, his tangla took objects from him as he removed them from the pack in his search.

After a few minutes he finally found the jacket and after putting everything messily back, but his pack was always chaotic, Erik turned to head back to the dying flames. That was when he started to hear murmurs.

At first they were unintelligible things, and then there were sobs. He looked down seeing Fire. He moved closer to the girl and listened for a while as she cried in her sleep, he stopped when it was her turn to take watch.

The next few nights were the same while on watch Erik would listen to find Fire crying and murmuring in her sleep. He caught a few words here and there which confirmed his theory that she was reliving what had happened to her in her dreams. The one he didn't get though was the word she kept repeating.

Fire kept saying "they" in her sleep.

The next night he noticed that "they" was a part of a sentence but the word was the only part Fire would say out loud. As he watched her he started to feel terrible. He was attempting to learn something from basically eavesdropping on her nightmares as she lay there clutching Vital for dear life.

The eevee didn't react so this was probably normal.

He sat next to her like he had the last few nights figuring it had no effect but not wanting to get any closer, he was a little worried about how Fire would react to knowing he was aware of her nightmares.

It was a stopover on a small island when he decided it had been too long. For once Surge had taken first watch, why Erik had no idea but he didn't sleep at all through those hours all he did was close his eyes and listen to the sound of Fire's crying.

Fire had like always taken second watch and so once Surge had been back in his tent for roughly twenty minutes Erik sat up. Fire seemed to have been aware that he had been awake since she didn't react much to it sudden movement.

"You should sleep" She told him in her hushed voice. He moved over and sat next to her.

"I needed to talk to you about something" he took a deep breath not sure how to branch the subject "I can hear you crying in your sleep…" it took a moment for Fire to react and it wasn't the anger he had expected. Instead she looked at the ground for a moment.

"Ignore it"

"I tried that… You should really talk to someone or something Fire" the look she gave him told him that she had done that. "Okay… so what about that new therapy they have going? Where they have a Pokémon use dream eater on you?"

Fire just shook her head at him.

"You don't understand, I need them" Erik's mouth hung open for a moment he looked at her.

"You… Need the nightmares that have you crying in your sleep?" she nodded "why?"

"I need to know who _they_ are, I need to fill the gaps in my memory" she was looking him straight in the eye now, something he never found comfortable with Fire. "Dream eater removes the memories, the very things I need"

"So you are just going to cry in your sleep until you have everything figured out? Do you know how much damage that could cause?" and Fire smiled at that, which made it worse because she was aware.

"Erik… I dealt with everything my mother did to me in a similar way." She looked down at her feet. "I know it may not be healthy but at least I deal with it." the boy sighed.

"Well at least let me help." He could tell Fire had no idea what he meant.

When her shift was over Erik didn't allow her to leave instead she slept on him curled up with Vital and the extra presence seemed to help a little.

She muttered but did not cry.

Surge shockingly never commented on their behaviour when he found them that way in the morning or the fact Fire stood a little closer to Erik.

That was until the boy got a phone call

/F.R/

Fire watched as Erik walked away to take the phone call. She was surprised he was still getting service. Erik hadn't walked to far away on the small island; he was close enough that Fire could take note of his sudden change in demeanour.

He froze up.

She didn't really like that so she moved closer. She made little to no noise as she walked across the sands of the small beach.

"Attacked…"

That was the first thing Fire heard, Erik was too distracted by the person on the other line too even notice her moving closer.

"Who attacked who?" Fire turned her head slightly to see Surge who had come up behind her. The Grass Gym leader took notice of them both standing there. Fire inclined her head.

Erik ran his hair through his hand. He then glanced at his pokégear.

"Give me a moment Misty I have to explain it to Fire" he didn't mention Surge to the other gym leader. That might have been a good plan. "There was an attack on Vermillion a week ago." Fire noticed how Surge reacted; he still cared about the city even if he had left it. "A bomb went off… Thing is it also released some sort of poison agent"

"What does it do Little Lord?" Surge asked before Fire could get out a word.

"The effects aren't entirely known, we know it induces coughing fits and kills quickly" that wasn't all though and Fire could tell.

"And?" Erik looked at her, his eyes looked almost fearful and yet… so incredibly full of rage. She almost took a step back even though she knew the anger wasn't directed at her.

"There have been two more attacks, simultaneously on Cerulean and Pewter!" there was silence then. For a second, due to them being the only ones of the beach Fire felt like time had stopped. If it wasn't for the waves and wind she might have believed it.

"It's a good strategy" both of the young people turned to Surge who stood with his arms folded, head bowed thinking. "There will be a longer period between now and the next attack, which will be on one of the cities with a gym…. Don't look at me like that Little Lord it's obvious why you would hit one of the gyms! Right now the only thing keeping Kanto from blowing itself sky high is the Gym leaders! There's a reason they call us the 'Big Red Button' you know!"

"But they aren't hitting the Gyms, just the cities with them." Erik pointed out but Fire could tell he was listening.

"Because they want to make you scared, make you run in fear from them and then probably hand power over to them."

"How exactly do you know that Surge?" Erik asked the ex gym leader suspiciously.

"Because when I served in the military Little Lord, I served in groups that aren't exactly on the books! Unova tried this seven fucking years ago and my unit stopped them!" Surge's eyes changed. Fire recognised it; he'd gone to the 'bad place'. "A buddy of mine Baxter Blue died when the bomb went off"

"Surge…" Fire placed a hand on his arm in an attempt to comfort him, while Surge still wasn't her favourite person not after what happened in Vermillion two years ago. But he had been one of the few people who had offered her understanding instead of sympathy. It seemed to work though since Surge's eyes returned to normal.

"Anyway… I can't tell you when or where but that's the basic strategy."

"So what do we do then?" of all people Misty replied "man I do not know." Surge smirked at that little addition.

"Simple! Keep everyone as calm as possible" he turned to Erik then "you have a web of spies and the like correct? Start using them to find out what's going on"

"But…" Erik was looking at her, Fire got it. He was worried because doing so would mean he would need to leave and go back to Celadon to handle everything. Then it hit her.

Erik would have to leave… Part of her really didn't want that but… He had too.

"You need too" Fire finished for him walking over to the slightly older boy she placed a hand on his "if you don't I'll strangle you for jeopardizing everything I worked for"

"Awwwwwwwww" the phone said, Surge snorted.

There really hadn't been any other option so Erik left using the Fearow he had borrowed. Surge watched him leave, once Fire thought he was far enough away she turned around so she didn't have too. She wasn't used to this… wanting someone around like this.

"Well that was one way to lose him kid" Fire glanced at Surge was looking her in the eye. "I don't know why you even let him come with us" Fire simply shrugged, Surge continued the conversation as he had learnt to do during the last few months. "I'm sure whatever you plan to do at Blaine's is something he wouldn't agree with… Or am I reading into your little escape from the boss wrong?" the girl raised an eye brow.

"Necessary evil?" Team Rocket had been very good to her but she knew that to put her plan into action she had to leave. Giovanni would not be amused by what she was going to do… Actually she doubted anyone she was close too was going to be happy with her decision.

"Right… Well we better get moving" Surge said stopping her musings. She paused for a moment taking a good look at Surge. "What?" the look on her face almost looked suspicious, she was starting to wonder again why Surge didn't make her go back to bed that night.

"Why did you come with me?" the look of his face was odd, she often didn't see Surge shocked. Angry? Yes. Scared? Once or twice. Shocked? Well a few times actually if you count literally.

"Other then you graciously let me?" the reply was almost sarcastic "because kid as much as you may dislike me I respect you. So I know that it's pointless to try and keep you in and smarter to just keep an eye on you"

Fire nodded excepting the answer.

**And remember Folks don't flame unless you have an extinguisher!**


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